Share this with

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video

This is Erin Clark.

She’s a 36-year-old pole dancer from Canada. And she’s also a wheelchair user.

Taking up the sport last year, within months she was on her way to the World Championships in Netherlands.

But it hasn’t been plain sailing the whole time, as you might imagine.

Erin says she has spent her whole life combating discrimination as a wheelchair user and she’s now trying to make pole dancing more inclusive.

Advertisement

Advertisement

‘I did not consider pole dancing inclusive – having a disabled person show up does not indicate inclusivity,’ she says.

‘It means that more likely, that person is doing a whole lot of adapting to an environment that is not equipped to them. There are not a lot of disabled pole dancers.’

(Picture: Nicolas Simon / Barcroft Images)

(Picture: Nicolas Simon / Barcroft Images)

(Picture: Enrique Llaó Sánchez/ Barcroft Images)

Erin was born with sacral agenesis, a spinal defect which stops the base of the spinal column from forming properly.

That means that some of her muscles work…and others don’t.

Erin says: ‘I know that there’s an assumption that because I’m deformed and can’t walk that I should definitely be uncomfortable with my body and not like it and want to change it.

‘I’m just confident with it, I can’t sincerely say that I struggle with body confidence. I mean, I have bad hair days from hell that I do not enjoy, but as a general rule I’ve always felt naturally confident in my body.

‘I don’t like how people treat me based on how it looks to them. Pole sport does not affect my body confidence, that just is natural to me.’

(Picture: Nicolas Simon / Barcroft Images)

(Picture: Marta Ariza / Barcroft Images)

(Picture: Enrique Llaó Sánchez / Barcroft Images)

When Erin first started performing, there was no category for disabled pole athletes and yet, she’s gone on to compete at the top level. In fact, she won a silver medal at the Spanish National Pole Sport Championships last year.

Advertisement

Advertisement

‘The first time that I competed, there was no disabled category,’ says Erin.

‘I had some concerns about the reasons I was accepted, because there wasn’t any system for me to be judged. So what was their intention behind having me on a stage?’

‘There are so many pole moves that I can’t do, so we had to find, like, within the code of points, which one can I maybe do.

‘I love to win, I like to win for real though. I don’t want it to be given to me just because I showed up. I want to be the best, I want everyone to know that I’m the best, or at the very least I want to be very good.’

Despite her win, however, the judges did not take in consideration the disabilities of any of the dancers and so Erin lost points every time she failed to point her toes – something she physically can’t do.

The rules have now been modified to better accommodate disabled performers for next year’s competition.

Erin is currently in training for the 2018 championships, along with her coach Salima Peippo at Art Move Studio in Vilaseca, Spain.

(Picture: Marta Ariza / Barcroft Images)

(Picture: Marta Ariza / Barcroft Images)

(Picture: Marta Ariza / Barcroft Images)

Salima says: ‘She’s the best performer, I mean, she’s amazing, she rocks the stage. She has this ability to show the emotion, I don’t know any people who have this naturally. She’s really good, she’s a really good performer.

Advertisement

‘You can’t really expect her to do the moves like other people do, but it doesn’t mean that she can’t do them. You just have to find a way.

‘She was born like this and she has to deal with it, so it’s just her basic needs and she has a right to them. I think it’s just her life that has made her an activist, because she has to defend herself all the time – all the time.’

When she’s not dancing, Erin also runs her own magazine – How To Be A Sex icon – which she produces independently to celebrate her role as a badass sex icon.

‘Inclusivity, accessibility do not happen by accident, they are very deliberate processes that involve thought, action. Most of the world isn’t inclusive,’ says Erin.

‘Pole dancing represents something that’s important to me, a constant part of my life, being segregated and being discriminated against. I’ll participate so that it can become inclusive over time, hopefully.’